near north side//peter hayes

5

When I go to wake up the transfers I am shocked to see most are already up. I am not surprised to see the word "Stiff" spray painted across a mattress, I'm assuming is Tris'. Tris comes out of the bathroom seeing her bed. She looks angry, much like I had been last year when the same thing happened to me. I know she will just shake it off and put on a brave face. She won't show anyone that this got to here, but I know it did.

Peter stands behind her, whistling as he fluffs his pillow. "Nice decorations."

"Did I do something to you that I'm unaware of?" Tris demands. She grabs the corner of the sheet and yanks it away from the mattress. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we are in the same faction now."

"I don't know what you're referring to," Peter says lightly. Then he glances at me. It looks as if he was about to say something but stops.

I know Tris can handle her own problems, but I am not gonna let Peter walk around here like he runs the place.

"Peter. Over here now," I say sternly. He looks at me with a fake look of shock. Like he didn't do anything. He slowly walks over to me, glaring at Tris in the process. "Follow me," I tell him. On the way out the door I look at Tris one more time, to see her surrounded by her friends.

"Why did you do that?" I ask him.

"Do what?" Peter asks.

"Don't play dumb. Everyone knows it was you. You've been giving Tris a hard time since she was brave enough to jump off the roof before you," I remark.

"So what if I did it? Am I in trouble?" Peter questions.

"No not yet, but I do want to give you some advice. Being an ass doesn't pay. You'll get nowhere in this Faction if people hate you," I warn.

"It seems to work for Eric," Peter counters.

"No it doesn't. No one hates Eric. Are they afraid of him? Yeah, but being afraid of someone and hating them are two different things. I suggest you learn the difference, and if you know what's good for you you'll apologize to Tris. And stop being such a pain in everyone's ass," I tell him.

"You can't make me apologize," Peter spits.

I step closer to him, so there is little space between us. "You seem to forget I am not just your trainer, I'm also one of your leaders. I can make you do whatever I want. Now go apologize and then get to the training room." I walk away before Peter can say another word.

As I finish writing on the chalkboard the initiates start to wander into the training room. I feel bad for what Tris is about to go through. When she sees her name next to Peter I can hear her gasp.

Christina doesn't offer much help adding, "Oh no." Christina's face is bruised, and she looks like she is trying not to limp. When she sees the board, she crumples the muffin wrapper she is holding into her fist. "Are they serious? They're really going to make you fight him?"

I know they think it is unfair but part of the strategy is to get Tris' hard fights out of the way first, so when she starts to get stronger she can really show off her skills on easier opponents.

"And right after he just apologized, something I didn't know he was capable of," Tris says.

Peter is almost a foot taller than her, and yesterday, he beat Drew in less than five minutes. Today Drew's face is more black-and-blue than flesh-toned.

"Maybe you can just take a few hits and pretend to go unconscious," Al suggests. "No one would blame you."

"Yeah," Tris says. "Maybe."

Tris and Peter are not the first to fight. Right now Molly and Edward are in the ring. Edward is much faster than Molly is, so I'm sure Molly will not win today. As the fight goes on Molly keeps taking a beating. It doesn't take long before Molly is peeling herself off the ground, looking only half-conscious thanks to Edward.

"Tris and Peter in the ring," I yell. I see Tris start to make her way to the ring but is stopped by Four. I take this as my chance to say something to Peter. "Thank you for apologizing, even if you didn't mean it. Please don't kill Tris."

"I'm not gonna let her win," Peter says, showing little emotion.

"I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking you very seriously not to kill her."

He just nods his head and makes his way into the ring. Peter smiles at Tris, the same wicked smile as Eric. "You okay there, Stiff?" Peter says. "You look like you're about to cry. I might go easy on you if you cry."

I make my way over toward the door where Four is standing with his arms folded. He is just as unhappy with this matchup as I am, but he knows it needs to happen. His mouth is puckered, like he just swallowed something sour. On the other side of him is Eric, who taps his foot at a fast pace.

One second Peter and Tris are standing there, staring at each other, and the next Peter's hands are up by his face, his elbows bent. His knees are bent too, like he's ready to spring.

"Come on, Stiff," Peter says, his eyes glinting. "Just one little tear. Maybe some begging."

I didn't ask him to be nice, I just asked him not to kill her.

Tris tries to kick Peter in the side, but he catches her foot and yanks it forward, knocking her off-balance. Her back smacks into the floor, and she pulls her foot free, scrambling to her feet.

"Stop playing with her," snaps Eric. "I don't have all day."

Peter's mischievous look disappears. His arm twitches and he punches Tris straight in the jaw. Tris slightly stumbles to the right but doesn't fall. He darts in front of her and kicks her hard in the stomach. This time Tris falls. She tries to push herself up, but Peter is already there. He grabs her hair with one hand and punches her in the nose with the other. I want to say something to stop the fight, but I don't need to piss off Eric, or play favorites.

Tris tries to shove Peter off, slapping at his arms, and he punches her again, this time in the ribs. Her nose is bleeding, maybe broken. He shoves her and she falls again. She may be losing but she is sure as hell putting up a fight. She coughs and drags herself to her feet. Peter kicks her in the side again showing no mercy. Tris punches Peter in the stomach, but he doesn't even groan. Instead he smacks her ear with the flat of his palm, laughing under his breath. Four has had enough of this by now and shoves the door open and walks out. Tris' knees give out and she falls to the floor. Peter kicks her again in the side, and she lets out a scream, and he kicks her again. I have to say something, this has gone too far.

"Enough," I shout right as Tris loses consciousness. "Edward, can you take Tris to the infirmary?" I ask the only person who has fought today and is nice enough to help.

"Sure," he says as he picks Tris up like a ragdoll and walks out the door.

"Alright next up Will and Christina," Eric shouts.

Christina gives it her all but still can't beat Will. Unlike Peter however, Will does not beat Christina until she loses consciousness. The fights continue on one after another. Four hasn't come back to the training room since his abrupt departure.

Before dismissing everyone for dinner Eric makes an announcement, "Tomorrow you're going on a field trip. We're going to the fence so you can learn about Dauntless jobs."

"Be at the train by eight fifteen," I add, "Now you're free to go for the night."

I look towards Eric and the initiates leave the room. "What do you think of Tris and Peter?" I ask.

"Peter needs to learn to keep his mouth shut, and fight. I don't want to hear all the trash talking. I wanna see what he can do," Eric tells me. I laugh a little at his comment. "Tris needs to do better. She's weak, but she didn't back down so she gets points for that."

"Do you think she'll make the cuts?" I ask.

"Maybe. If she improves I think she'll just squeak by."

"I see a lot of myself in her," I say truthfully. "She's trying her best and I can see she wants this."

Eric nods his head. I get the feeling that he doesn't really like Tris, but I can't fully understand why. I know she is weak but there is plenty of time for her to grow stronger and get better.